The introductory track to k-Drama's new album, "The Inevitable", builds anticipation to the rest of the disc. The artist's quick rap and explanation of the BoomBaptism title hooks the listener with a promise of a musical rebirth to come. And with a Theory Hazit-provided Thriller-like howl in the background, one immediately wants to buy into the vision of the project.

The introductory track to k-Drama's new album, "The Inevitable", builds anticipation to the rest of the disc. The artist's quick rap and explanation of the BoomBaptism title hooks the listener with a promise of a musical rebirth to come. And with a Theory Hazit-provided Thriller-like howl in the background, one immediately wants to buy into the vision of the project.

So it's quite a let down when midway through the album you realize that for every two steps forward, k-Drama seems to take one step back. Obviously forward motion can still be achieved; it's just not the most effective technique available.

Examples of this include "On the High" where Drama goes left to sample a yodel that would make Julie Andrews proud. It's an exciting start to the album's second track. Unfortunately a guest spot by D-M.A.U.B. that sounds exactly like a Ludacris cameo lessens its originality.

Later, on "Ambulance" the artist gets trippy with a siren sound and an extremely catchy, aggressively building chorus that grants the narrating driver the open lanes of an emergency vehicle. Here Drama demonstrates he's studied and applied patterns from successful Christian rappers like KJ-52 by delivering a hook-heavy song that's playful, yet relatable, and can be used to point to a Christ-like truth or value.

Once again, we're cheering for the advance. That is until we remember Regis already did a song about his frustrations with big city traffic - on his last album no less.

But his knack for creating original, memorable hip hop slang is getting sharper. Just check "I'm So Married (Check the Ring Finger)" and "Air Jordan." Who can't envision massive crowds of boombap-loving youth working such language into their own vibrant vocabularies? It brings joy to long-time Christian rap fans to see this coming from our camps.

A noted (and steadily improving) producer, k-Drama takes less than half of the album's tracks with mixed results. "Act Out the King" and "Praise the Lord" don't have enough variance to sustain interest and often sound better at lower volumes. But spin something like "BoomBaptism" (perhaps Drama's best work on both sides of the board to date) on repeat and forgiveness is easy to extend. Elsewhere, Tony Stone's beats are always reliable and Cephas The Remnant's contributions are a pleasant new surprise.

Lyrically, k-Drama is not only audibly appealing, but also seems to be putting more depth and breadth into his rhymes. "Full Time" takes other Christian rappers to task for falsely believing a day job hampers their ministry impact or lessens their earthly shine. Later, "UsAWhat?" challenges those outside the church to fully comprehend the street titles they so proudly claim. Throughout the project the artist seems to really hit a balance between praise and practicalities while feeding spirits in pews and pits.

The material is all there, but never seems to rise to the level of full-throttle conceptual and artistic risk we're currently seeing from the likes of shai linne (Storiez) and Kanye West (808's and Heartbreaks) with their albums.

As far as BoomBaptism's go, this one's a sprinkle. Many will argue it has the same net effect, but a full submersion sure would have been more memorable.